Cleaning, Contamination Control & Validation Engineer E4 - Santa Clara, CA, United States
$133,500 - $183,500 USD yearly
Originally posted 9 October 2026 by the employer.
About the role
The Cleaning, Contamination Control & Validation Engineer supports the Engineering organization on the development of cleaning and contamination control methods, introduction of new methods and tools for contamination detection and improvement, defect troubleshooting & failure analysis, and customer escalation issue resolutions.
What you'll do
- Partner with and support Engineering to develop cleaning and contamination control solutions for current and advanced node equipment.
- Conduct risk assessments (FMEA) at each process stage: supplier, incoming inspection, manufacturing in-process, packaging, shipment, and customer.
- Develop, evaluate, and qualify new methods and tools for contamination detection, measurement, and monitoring across process stages.
- Lead root cause analysis (8D, 5-Why, fishbone) and corrective/preventive action development for contamination events and customer complaints.
- Design the failure analysis (FA) DOE for key defect critical components to troubleshoot wafer defect issues.
- Author and maintain Contamination Control Plans, Validation Master Plans, and stage-specific Control Requirement Documents.
What you'll need
- Bachelor's degree in Materials Science, Mechanical Engineering, Chemistry, Physics, or related technical field.
- Minimum 7-10 years of experience in the semiconductor fabrication field.
- Experience authoring validation protocols and contamination control documentation.
- Strong working knowledge of FMEA, risk management frameworks, and control plans.
- Familiarity with clean room protocols, SEMI standards, and ISO regulatory requirements.
- Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and drive alignment across diverse stakeholder groups.
Nice to have
- Advanced degree (M.S. or MBA) in a relevant field.
- Certification in Quality Engineering (CQE), Quality Management (CQM), or equivalent.
- Six Sigma certification and proficiency with quality management systems (QMS).
Skills: contamination control, FMEA, clean room, defect troubleshooting, failure analysis
This role has been open 0 days — well below the 53-day median for Semiconductor Equipment Engineering roles.
Semiconductor Equipment Engineering · Manufacturing Equipment
|
Open roles in category
3718
|
Median days open
53 d
|
Median salary
$126k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, skills in demand, and who else is hiring
| Metric | Applied Materials | All employers we track in this specialty (3718 roles · 82 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 622 | 3718 |
| Open roles in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family | 1102 | 9796 · 108 employers |
| Median days open | 53 d | 53 d (same as this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $126k |
Skills observed across this category: contamination control, FMEA, clean room, defect troubleshooting, failure analysis
Who's hiring in this category
- Applied Materials (this employer) · 613 open roles · median 52 d
- Lam Research · 545 open roles · median 43 d
- Micron Technology · 269 open roles · median 44 d
- KLA Corporation · 254 open roles · median 66 d
- ASML · 198 open roles · median 64 d
- ASM International · 157 open roles · median 78 d
How we counted: 3718 open Semiconductor Equipment Engineering (Manufacturing Equipment) roles from 82 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 9 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Process, Fab & Equipment family row. Figures refresh nightly.